Dustin Spears

DUSTIN SPEARS
"Tennessee and You"
Independent Release




Nashville’s a town that’s full of great musicians and artists, but one of the best things about living here is that you get to watch first-hand how these new acts continuously grow in their craft and get stronger and stronger with each song they release.

Such is the case with Dustin Spears and his brand-new single “Tennessee and You.”

His traditional country influence has always allowed him to have a very strong lyrical game (i.e. “Slow Walk With Jesus”), while his naturally raspy voice has injected the necessary emotions to convey the honesty of each line he sings.

He continues to strongly utilize both these signature aspects on “Tennessee and You,” and thus continues to retain the values of what makes for a great country song. However, he also modernizes this single with a rock kissed feel that pulls his overall sound into the modern era.

Lyrically, this focuses on trying to get over a breakup which is a subject matter that’s prevalent country music. However, Spears cleverly adds in a nice twist to give this a unique flare in that the breakup happened because she moved to another state – in this case Illinois – and her moving has now made his home state of Tennessee, where they shared so many memories together, not feel like home anymore.

His vocal prowess helps add fuel to the flame as he sings us through his pain on lines in the opening verse such as, “I can’t go out driving and not see your car” and “I can’t believe that blonde hair, blue eye, still keeps me up late at night,” before he cries out with the cold hard truth, “Don’t know what I’m gonna do, If I can’t spend my life with you.”

He continues to unravel the pain of missing her as he sings of how he’s drowning in a bottle because she’s left his heart sinking, that if he had his choice then he’d drive to Illinois just to feel her arms around him again, etc.

I love a song that leaves the situation wide open, and Spears has masterfully done that on “Tennessee and You.” By not ever revealing the reason for the break-up, he’s given this the relatability that allows the listener to attach their own unique break-up story to the song. This factor is what will be the catalyst for Dustin Spears moving another step forward on his path as he resonates emotionally with the listener.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis - Today's Country Magazine - Today's Country Magazine

Westmoreland, TN native Dustin Spears closed the night with a high-energy full band performance that kept everyone rocking with a healthy dose of originals spliced together with covers that came at precise moments to engage the crowd and keep them fully invested.

Leaning into the gravel and grit of his vocals and placing them directly against infectious guitar licks that carried a toe-tapping rhythm, Spears set the precedent for all that would follow as he opened his set with a 1-2 punch of rocking original songs, “Sumbuck On A Horse” and “Whiskey Over You,” before pausing to introduce his downhome attitude to the crowd.

“This next song is the new single that just released with a brand-new video,” announced Spears. “And I just want to thank y’all for being here and thank you to all the acts who played tonight before me,” he finished gratefully as he delivered “Tennessee and You,” during which you could feel the emotions of the lyrics radiating through his voice as it heart punched the audience through the broken down after a breakup lyric.

Sticking in the wheelhouse of originals now that the crowd was already pulled in, Spears delivered his upcoming single (releasing March 5, 2022) “Whiskey Ain’t Working,” which allowed him to slide slightly away from his rock tilted edge and dig more into his traditional country roots to allow his vocals to continue carrying the emotional power of the lyrics.

The middle of his set was anchored with a strong cover selection that ran the country music gauntlet, staying in the modern era with Chris Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave” and Randy Houser’s “How Country Feels,” while sliding back to the 90’s country era for Tracy Byrd’s “Watermelon Crawl” and delivering an incredible version of JellyRoll’s “Save Me,” which Spears had announced the artist himself had seen on YouTube and gave him a shout-out on.

However, as much as the middle of the set kept the crowd rocking with him and singing along, for me personally, he really impressed when he tackled John Anderson’s “Straight Tequila Night.” Anderson is such a unique artist with an identifiable vocal that it truly makes him a very tough act to cover if you’re trying to do so straight-ahead, but Spears found the perfect ways to twist the song just enough so that it perfectly fit around his voice and, in many ways, he made the song feel his own.

Returning to his originals toward the end of the set, Spears played a song he said to have never done in concert before with “Broken Fool,” followed by “Alabama Cutie,” during which he brought an enthusiastic youngster from the crowd on stage with him and in a complete show of respect, got down on one knee at the child’s level and allowed him to play the guitar during parts of the song.

With one last, rowdy turn at Luke Combs “Beer Never Broke My Heart” to close his set, Dustin Spears left it all out on stage this night and did everything right with this performance.

He gave the crowd a wide range of country music covers that allowed the fans, no matter what era is their favorite, to have something to latch onto. However most importantly, he used his 45-minutes to deliver an amazing preview of his original music and elevate his career path one major step ahead because of it.

FULL SET LIST

1) Sumbuck On A Horse

2) Whiskey Over You

3) Tennessee and You

4) Whiskey Ain’t Working

5) You Should Probably Leave (Chris Stapleton cover)

6) How Country Feels (Randy Houser cover)

7) Straight Tequila Night (John Anderson cover)

8) Save Me (JellyRoll cover)

9) Watermelon Crawl (Tracy Byrd cover)

10) Broken Fool

11) Alabama Cutie

12) Beer Never Broke My Heart (Luke Combs cover)

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis - Today's Country Magazine - Today's Country Magazine